CRRC, American Councils and ARISC are pleased to announce the 7th session of the Fall 2024 Tbilisi Works-in-Progress series!
This week’s session will be entirely ONLINE.
“From the High Caucasus to the Moldavian plains: Iron Age Hillforts and the Evolution of Indigenous Black Sea Kingdoms“
Prof. Owen Doonan, CSU Northridge; CAORC multi-country Fellow, 2024
The Iron Age was a pivotal stage in Eurasian history, yet it is still poorly understood as a regional phenomenon. Around the Black Sea this problem is particularly acute owing to the strongly localized focus of scholars working in the region. The Iron Age is framed as a transcultural horizon encompassing (rather than defined by) Mediterranean colonization, Persian Imperialism and local cultural development. Clusters of hillforts represent significant common investment in defensive infrastructure in the absence of strong hierarchical organization, which coalesced into local kingdoms in the context of dynamic economic, social and military conditions of the mid-first millennium. The project, initiated with the support of a CAORC multi-country Grant (2024), is specifically intended to address these fragmented understandings of the Black Sea Iron Age through coordinated research in Romania, Türkiye, and Georgia.
Owen Doonan is Professor of Art History and a specialist in Ancient Art and Archaeology. Since 2003 has taught at CSUN, where he regularly teaches Western Art History, ancient art of the Middle East, Greece and Rome, and advanced courses in Exhibition Design, Art Historiography, and Landscapes, Art and Culture. Doonan is founding chair of the Archaeological Institute of America’s Anatolia Interest Group, former chair of the Eastern Europe and Eurasia Interest Group, was recognized as the AIA’s Hanfmann Lecturer and serves on the Fellowships Committee. An active field archaeologist Doonan has excavated in Italy, Greece, Spain and Israel and since 1996 he has directed the Sinop (Türkiye) Regional Archaeological Project.
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Works-in-Progress is an ongoing academic discussion series based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that takes place at the CRRC office at Chavchavadze Ave. 5 and online. It is co-organized by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers (CRRC), the American Councils for International Education: ACTR/ACCELS, and the American Research Institute of the South Caucasus (ARISC). All of the talks are free and open to the public.
In observation of the spirit of the Chatham House Rule, the talks will not be recorded, and we courteously request that the other participants refrain from recording and/or distributing recordings as well. The opinions expressed in WiP talks are those of the speakers alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of CRRC, ARISC or of American Councils
